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Roberta M. Shanman

Education

B.A. in English, University of California, Los Angeles; M.S. in library science, University of California, Los Angeles

Overview

Roberta Shanman is manager of reference and consulting services at the RAND Corporation, a position she has held since 1985. Her responsibilities include performing literature searches, locating specific data from reference materials and other sources, and developing both the reference and general library collection of books, journals, and reports in the area of health and behavioral sciences. Shanman has been a reference librarian at RAND since 1982; prior to that, she was a library analyst at Rockwell International Space Systems Group. Between these two positions, she has more than 35 years of experience in information retrieval. At RAND, a significant proportion of her literature searches have been in the medical and health care fields. Shanman has been the primary literature searcher on a number of RAND's Evidence-Based Practice Center projects for more than 10 years. She earned her M.S. in library science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Research Focus

Publications

RAND researchers systematically reviewed scientific studies on routine vaccines recommended for children age 6 and younger in the United States and found that vaccines are very safe overall, and serious side effects are extremely rare.

Reviews and documents the existing evidence base for interventions to prevent falls in hospitals, provides an overview of the performance of existing tools with known measurement properties, and compiles available online resources.

Recognizing the importance of improving efficiency measurement of health care quality, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has sponsored this systematic review and analysis of available measures.

Related RAND Resources

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